Five Things We Learned from the Ravens' 55-20 win over the Oakland Raiders

US Presswire

Sure, it came against an Oakland defense that is one of the worst in the NFL, but Joe Flacco and the Baltimore offense needed this confidence-booster heading into Pittsburgh. After throwing for 341 yards and three touchdowns in a 55-20 victory over the Oakland Raiders, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco sat on the floor of the media conference room at M&T Bank Stadium with his back against the wall. He wore a black Ravens hat pulled down over his eyes. His long legs were stretched out and his head was cocked slightly toward the floor or maybe his white tube socks. Nothing about his body language suggested that the Ravens had just scored the most points in a single game in franchise history. But once Ravens coach John Harbaugh finished answering questions about his team's most complete performance of the season, Flacco, who was replaced by Tyrod Taylor for mop-up duty, sprung to his feet and took his turn at the podium. It was the most action he had seen in nearly an hour. But before exiting the game, Flacco led the Ravens on eight scoring drives as the offense picked up 22 first downs and 45 points on their first 11 possessions. He connected with tight ends Dennis Pitta and Ed Dickson over the middle and up the seams. He dropped two 47-yard bombs to Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones. He kept Anquan Boldin and Tandon Doss involved, too. And he flung four completions to Ray Rice, who scored a touchdown Sunday but otherwise didn't find much running room. The Ravens converted just five of their 12 third-down plays, but Flacco moved the chains when it counted early in the game. Of course, it comes with the caveat that the Ravens did it at home, where they are now averaging 36.8 points, against a Raiders defense that has allowed 97 points in the past two weeks. Since I can usually find less trivial things to talk about, I try to stay out of the debate about whether Flacco is an elite quarterback. But the cold, hard facts argue that he is among the league's finest quarterbacks at his home stadium. In his five home games this season -- all Ravens wins -- Flacco has completed 65.3 percent of his attempts for 1,612 yards, 10 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He is averaging 9.3 yards per attempt. And his 107.4 passer rating at home is among the NFL's five best. Maybe he really loves marching bands? But as we know, Flacco has not been able to replicate that success away from the friendly confines of M&T Bank Stadium, as the Ravens are averaging 17.5 points per game on the road. "I have no reason for it," said Smith, who caught two of Flacco's 33 attempts Sunday for 67 yards and two touchdowns. "You can't say crowd noise because sometimes the other team's places are quiet. You can't say it's game-planning because we're running the exact same plays. For whatever reason, we're just not getting it done. I have no clue. ... It's like night and day almost. It's weird, but we'll get it right." As expected, Flacco stoically downplayed questions about whether this blowout win will give them a confidence boost when they needed it most, with the Ravens traveling to Heinz Field in Pittsburgh this weekend for the first of two games in three weeks against the rival Steelers. "Eh, I don't know," Flacco said -- which is his equivalent of Ray Lewis saying "that's the bottom line" 52 times at "the end of the day." But even after an offensive outburst like this, there will be plenty of questions this week about Flacco's and the offense's ability to produce on the road. They will keep shrugging off the questions because they are still searching for answers. If the Ravens want to win the division, they need to find them soon.

Sure, it came against an Oakland defense that is one of the worst in the NFL, but Joe Flacco and the Baltimore offense needed this confidence-booster heading into Pittsburgh. After throwing for 341 yards and three touchdowns in a 55-20 victory over the Oakland Raiders, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco sat on the floor of the media conference room at M&T Bank Stadium with his back against the wall. He wore a black Ravens hat pulled down over his eyes. His long legs were stretched out and his head was cocked slightly toward the floor or maybe his white tube socks. Nothing about his body language suggested that the Ravens had just scored the most points in a single game in franchise history. But once Ravens coach John Harbaugh finished answering questions about his team's most complete performance of the season, Flacco, who was replaced by Tyrod Taylor for mop-up duty, sprung to his feet and took his turn at the podium. It was the most action he had seen in nearly an hour. But before exiting the game, Flacco led the Ravens on eight scoring drives as the offense picked up 22 first downs and 45 points on their first 11 possessions. He connected with tight ends Dennis Pitta and Ed Dickson over the middle and up the seams. He dropped two 47-yard bombs to Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones. He kept Anquan Boldin and Tandon Doss involved, too. And he flung four completions to Ray Rice, who scored a touchdown Sunday but otherwise didn't find much running room. The Ravens converted just five of their 12 third-down plays, but Flacco moved the chains when it counted early in the game. Of course, it comes with the caveat that the Ravens did it at home, where they are now averaging 36.8 points, against a Raiders defense that has allowed 97 points in the past two weeks. Since I can usually find less trivial things to talk about, I try to stay out of the debate about whether Flacco is an elite quarterback. But the cold, hard facts argue that he is among the league's finest quarterbacks at his home stadium. In his five home games this season -- all Ravens wins -- Flacco has completed 65.3 percent of his attempts for 1,612 yards, 10 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He is averaging 9.3 yards per attempt. And his 107.4 passer rating at home is among the NFL's five best. Maybe he really loves marching bands? But as we know, Flacco has not been able to replicate that success away from the friendly confines of M&T Bank Stadium, as the Ravens are averaging 17.5 points per game on the road. "I have no reason for it," said Smith, who caught two of Flacco's 33 attempts Sunday for 67 yards and two touchdowns. "You can't say crowd noise because sometimes the other team's places are quiet. You can't say it's game-planning because we're running the exact same plays. For whatever reason, we're just not getting it done. I have no clue. ... It's like night and day almost. It's weird, but we'll get it right." As expected, Flacco stoically downplayed questions about whether this blowout win will give them a confidence boost when they needed it most, with the Ravens traveling to Heinz Field in Pittsburgh this weekend for the first of two games in three weeks against the rival Steelers. "Eh, I don't know," Flacco said -- which is his equivalent of Ray Lewis saying "that's the bottom line" 52 times at "the end of the day." But even after an offensive outburst like this, there will be plenty of questions this week about Flacco's and the offense's ability to produce on the road. They will keep shrugging off the questions because they are still searching for answers. If the Ravens want to win the division, they need to find them soon. (US Presswire)

Blowing out the awful Raiders pretty much served as a second bye week for the Ravens. After nearly every game, Ravens coach John Harbaugh praises his opponents -- some would argue too much -- while opening up his post-game news conferences. But after his team embarrassed the Oakland Raiders in Sunday's 55-20 victory, Harbaugh didn't bother trying (Raiders coach Dennis Allen could find no silver linings, either). That's not to say Harbaugh was disrespectful. Asked by my colleague Mike Preston about his comments last week about how there were no homecoming games in the NFL, Harbaugh smiled, then side-stepped the question like Ray Rice juking a linebacker in the open field. But make no mistake, this game turned out to be more or less a bye week for the Ravens. Quarterback Carson Palmer tripping over right guard Mike Brisiel on an early 4th-and-1 play pretty much summed up how things would go for the sorry Raiders, who emotionally had boarded the team bus around halftime. "Sometimes it just goes that way, right? Our guys made some plays," Harbaugh said. It was arguably the team's most complete game of the season, with the Ravens dominating all three phases for all four quarters. But as flawed as the Ravens have been in recent weeks, this game was the equivalent of a BCS powerhouse mopping the floor with a directional state school. This is probably the last pushover the Ravens will face this season (though the Washington Redskins or the Cincinnati Bengals might have something to say about that). And whether they admit it or not, they have to feel pretty confident heading into their showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers after devouring this cupcake team Sunday. Also important, the strong 60-minute performance meant that the Ravens were able to rest some key players on defense. Defensive tackle Haloti Ngata didn't play a snap against the Raiders. Harbaugh said the Ravens activated him in case they needed him, which they clearly didn't. Cornerback Jimmy Smith also sat out the game because he couldn't get his finicky groin loose enough during warmups. Nose tackle Ma'ake Kemoeatu also played sparingly and defensive end Pernell McPhee was ruled out Friday. These injuries will continue to be a concern this week -- particularly the ones that have been hampering Ngata and Smith recently -- but early signs are that the Ravens came out of Sunday healthier than they came in. It technically wasn't a bye week, but all that was missing were swim trunks and frozen umbrella drinks.

Blowing out the awful Raiders pretty much served as a second bye week for the Ravens. After nearly every game, Ravens coach John Harbaugh praises his opponents -- some would argue too much -- while opening up his post-game news conferences. But after his team embarrassed the Oakland Raiders in Sunday's 55-20 victory, Harbaugh didn't bother trying (Raiders coach Dennis Allen could find no silver linings, either). That's not to say Harbaugh was disrespectful. Asked by my colleague Mike Preston about his comments last week about how there were no homecoming games in the NFL, Harbaugh smiled, then side-stepped the question like Ray Rice juking a linebacker in the open field. But make no mistake, this game turned out to be more or less a bye week for the Ravens. Quarterback Carson Palmer tripping over right guard Mike Brisiel on an early 4th-and-1 play pretty much summed up how things would go for the sorry Raiders, who emotionally had boarded the team bus around halftime. "Sometimes it just goes that way, right? Our guys made some plays," Harbaugh said. It was arguably the team's most complete game of the season, with the Ravens dominating all three phases for all four quarters. But as flawed as the Ravens have been in recent weeks, this game was the equivalent of a BCS powerhouse mopping the floor with a directional state school. This is probably the last pushover the Ravens will face this season (though the Washington Redskins or the Cincinnati Bengals might have something to say about that). And whether they admit it or not, they have to feel pretty confident heading into their showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers after devouring this cupcake team Sunday. Also important, the strong 60-minute performance meant that the Ravens were able to rest some key players on defense. Defensive tackle Haloti Ngata didn't play a snap against the Raiders. Harbaugh said the Ravens activated him in case they needed him, which they clearly didn't. Cornerback Jimmy Smith also sat out the game because he couldn't get his finicky groin loose enough during warmups. Nose tackle Ma'ake Kemoeatu also played sparingly and defensive end Pernell McPhee was ruled out Friday. These injuries will continue to be a concern this week -- particularly the ones that have been hampering Ngata and Smith recently -- but early signs are that the Ravens came out of Sunday healthier than they came in. It technically wasn't a bye week, but all that was missing were swim trunks and frozen umbrella drinks.